Between the City of Delaware and the Village of Sunbury lies Hogback Road — a scenic stretch of secluded roadway just west of Interstate 71 that winds through a wooded area as it runs north and south along Alum Creek Lake.

There is, however, more than meets the eye to this particular road, as for decades, rumors have swirled among some locals and paranormal enthusiasts who contend that Hogback Road is haunted.

Websites for the Ohio Exploration Society and Ohio Haunted Places both mention the road, specifically accounts of a haunted residence along the road near an old Indian burial ground. The websites note a transparent apparition with an Indian-like headdress has been spotted in the home, which left behind a cold chill as it entered through one wall and exited through another.

A group known as Paranormal Fanatics of Ohio (PFO) also dedicates a section of its website (pfo.weebly.com) to Hogback Road, which it visited several years ago after hearing from area ghost hunters about paranormal activity in the area.

A post on the PFO website following the group’s stroll down Hogback Road states, “Two minutes into our first investigation, we captured a disembodied voice on the recorder, though were unable to discern what it was trying to tell us. That didn’t stop it though. The amount of EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) evidence pulled from just 13 minutes of recordings had us convinced that another visit was in store for us.”

The PFO post also notes the group heard a “very distinct knock on something metallic.”

Amateur ghost hunter recalls eerie encounters
Having heard countless rumors over the years about urban legends and paranormal activities tied to Hogback Road, Delaware native Dustin Reichert, 21, had to experience the famed stretch of roadway for himself.

After numerous trips over the past few years, Reichert said one thing is for sure — Hogback Road is one “creepy place.”

He added, “There’s always weird things going on there. A lot of very interesting paranormal stuff.”

Some of the most memorable encounters, Reichert said, have involved car doors opening with no one in sight; claw marks/finger marks appearing on his car windows and rearview mirror; and what sounded like rocks being thrown at the guardrail.

“Everything that I experience at Hogback has definitely not been from other humans, because usually when I’m there, there isn’t anybody around,” he added. “I have witnessed, I believe, what was human activity involving people singing or chanting across the lake at night. It was beautiful, but also would make your skin crawl a little.”

The majority of the presences Reichert has encountered he believes are “good spirits,” but he cautions there are places on Hogback Road, especially in the thick spots of the tree lines, where “evil” spirits like to linger.

“I’ve experienced some presences that were never there to harm anyone, but I have also seen a demon as well,” he said.

To help document some of his encounters, Reichert and his late friend, Tyler Hobby, who passed away in 2016, started Ohio Ghost Production, an amateur production company that films suspected haunted places. Several of the duo’s encounters on Hogback Road can be viewed by searching “Hogback Road Delaware Ohio” on YouTube.

Others chime inThrough the Ohio Ghost Production YouTube and Facebook pages, Reichert has heard from those who believe in paranormal activity on Hogback Road and those who don’t.

For instance, one woman contacted him on Facebook about seeing a floating lantern along the roadway.

“She found it to be exhilarating,” he said.

A YouTube user who used to live on Hogback Road wrote in the comments section of one of Reichert’s videos that “some very creepy things happened throughout my childhood that cannot be explained,” and that a friend “has had some major paranormal activity in her house on this road for the last 22 years and it has picked up.”

In the same comments section, another YouTube user writes the rumors of paranormal activity along the road are just that, rumors that were started “to play a prank” on local youth.

Thank you to Cindy for sending us this article that appeared in The Delaware Gazette in October 2017 about Hogback Road. Thanks to Josh Keeran of The Delaware Gazette for including the Ohio Exploration Society in his article.